36 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the Olio object of accuimilating dollars and cents. There is generally 

 too uHU'li hard drudger3' connected with the routine of farm labor, 

 and too little time given to needful social recreations. This con- 

 tinual toil bears especially hard upon the young. Their natures de- 

 mand variety and change ; and if no provision is made to satisfy 

 this demand, they either grow listless, lose energy and ambition and 

 become mere farm drudges, or the}' break awa}- from this unreason- 

 able servitude and plunge into the great outside world, exposed to 

 all its snares and temptations, at an age when the}' most need the 

 wise and restraining influences of home. Alas, how many sons and 

 daughters have cheerless homes, and constant, drear}' toil, driven out 

 into the wide world, to make shipwreck of honor and virtue, to live 

 wasted lives of sin and shame, and swell the fearful list of crime ! 

 How earnestly, then, ought we to strive to make the home life of 

 our children pleasant, and all its duties and associations healthful 

 and ennobling ! 



Children have an inborn love for the beautiful, and the surround- 

 ings of rural life are so harmonious and congenial with our nature, 

 and especially with child-nature, that the joyful and healthful im- 

 pressions and influences imbibed, become a part of self that remains 

 through life. 



With what animation children seek, in early springtime, in the 

 warmest and sunniest nooks, for the first tiny flowers that unfold 

 their petals to the genial sunshine ! How joyfully they listen to the 

 song of " The ten thousand warblers, that cheer the summer day," 

 and how enthusiastic their admiration of their gay plumage as they 

 flit through the air, or swing on the waving branches of the trees ? 

 How gladly and eagerl}' they pet the young domestic animals and 

 join in their gambols? 



Most assuredly the artificial life of city homes is in no way com- 

 parable to the healthy, natural employments and pastimes of rural 

 life. In fact, the moral, mental and i)hysical vigor resulting from 

 these natural pursuits, is what constitutes the superiority of the 

 country-bred over those reared amid the enervating influences of 

 cities. Encourage, then, the love of the beautiful in nature. 

 Brighten farm life by the cultivation of fruits and flowers and trail- 

 ing vines. They are the embodiment of gladness and beauty. They 

 charm the eye, refine the taste, and minister to the highest sensi- 

 bilities of the soul. 



